Ice auger with slip clutch in drive

ABSTRACT

A portable ice auger for use with snow vehicles is provided having a slip clutch in the auger head and a clutch control lever adjacent a clutch handle for control of the clutch slip by an auger operator, during operation of the auger.

Umted States Patent 11 1 [111 3,828,861 Verkuil Aug. 13, 1974 ICE AUGER WITH SLIP CLUTCH IN DRIVE 1.515.441 11/1924 Peterson 173/140 x' 2,576,199 11/1951 V0 el l73/l40X [76] Invent: M'Verkml135O Sunny, 2,696,972 12/1954 Ho /e 173/140 Crescent, BOX 1895, Schefferwlle, 3 2 44 5 1972 Quebec, Canada 3,775,998 12/1973 Century et a1. 64/30 C [22] Filed 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS pp 22,706 491,074 7/1950 Canada 173/140 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data I Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser Jan. 26, 1972 Canada 133237 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Stanley E. Johnson [52] US. Cl 173/26, 81/524, 173/140,

173/170, 192/89 A, 192/99 S ABSTRACT l' 'g g '55" 'g g fg igl A portable ice auger for use with snow vehicles is p1'0 64/30 24 S I 81/52 vided having a slip clutch in the auger head and a clutch control lever adjacent a clutch handle for control of the clutch slip by an auger operator, during [56] References cued operation of the auger.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 748,018 12/1903 Rowe 81/524 R 10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures ICE AUGER WITH SLIP CLUTCH IN DRIVE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to augers, and more particularly to portable ice augers adapted to use the motor of a snow vehicle as a power source.

2. Description of the Prior Art Portable ice augers are previously known which use pulley and belt arrangements for drivingthe auger from a snow vehicle power take-off. While being of light weight and very portable, the pulley driven with these devices suffers from a number of serious drawbacks. The tension on the pulley belt is maintained by a manual force exerted on the auger by the operator and, accordingly, the tension is quite difficult to maintain at a constant value. In practice, this results in sufficient slippage of the belt on the pulleys that the bit is not driven when the belt approaches a horizontal position. A device of this nature is diclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,602,321 issued Aug. 31, 1971 to Ottawa Brass Limited and having one George Kortschaga as the inventor of record.

It has been known in the earth auger art to provide augers with flexible cable drives connected to a vehicle power take-off. While such an arrangement is more satisfactory than the pulley drive of previously known ice augers, the operator of the auger has no ability to control the speed or power output of the auger. An auger of this type is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,576,199 issued Nov. 27, 1951 to one L. D. Vogel.

Other earth augers are known which provide operator controlled clutch mechanisms for controlling the power input to the auger but the control of these clutches is of an engaged or disengaged type and there is no provision for the operator to vary the engagement of the clutch while using the auger. An auger of this nature is disclosed in Canadian Patent No. 491,074 issued Mar. 10, 1953 to one George A. Robinson.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an auger with improved control features.

STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an auger head comprising a power input shaft, a power output shaft connectable to an auger bit, means connecting the power output shaft to the power input shaft in driven relationship therewith and including a slip clutch, handle means mounted on said head, and clutch control means movably mounted on said head with at least a portion of said control means adjacent said handle means for selective movement thereof by an auger operator, movement of said control means selectively controlling the degree of engagement of said clutch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF DRAWINGS The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view showing an auger in accordance with the present invention connected in driven relationship to a snow vehicle engine;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an auger in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view of an auger head in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a preferred arrangement for connecting a flexible drive cable to a snow vehicle engine in driven relationship therewith.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring most particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a portable ice auger having a flexible drive cable 10 driven from a remote power source and driving a clutch unit 12 mounted on -a gearbox 14. Gearbox 14 has an output shaft 16 detachably connected to an auger assembly 18.

CLUTCH ASSEMBLY Referring most particularly to FIG. 3, clutch assembly I2 is shown as comprising a first clutch casing 20 with a cylindrical wall 21, end plates 22 and 24, and an intermediate plate 26 located between end plates 22 and 24. A second, cup-shaped clutch casing 28 extends coaxially away from end plate 24 and is bolted thereto by means of bolts 30. The interior of casing 28 communicates with the interior of casing 20 by means of a circular opening 25 in end plate 24. The closed end of casing 28 has a central aperture 32 therein and an externally threaded bushing 34 fixed thereto as, for example, by welding to extend coaxially outwardly from aperture 32.

A clutch input shaft 36 extends coaxially within clutch casings 20 and 28 and is journalled in plate 26 by means of a bearing 38. One end of shaft 36 is adjacent aperture 32 in casing 28 and is provided with an axially extending socket member 40, fixed to shaft 36 by means of a pin 42. The opposite end of shaft 36 is located between end plate 22 and intermediate plate 26 and carries a radially extending clutch disc 44 having a friction facing 46 thereon.

A throw-in bearing 50 is disposed about shaft 36 intermediate socket 40 and plate 26 for free axial and rotational movement with respect thereto. A coil spring 54 is disposed about shaft 36 and extending between a collar 48 pinned to shaft 36 adjacent throw-in bearing 50 and plate 26 and urges collar 48, shaft 36 and clutch disc 44 towards the closed end of clutch casing 28.

Clutch casing 28 is provided with two diametrically opposed slots 56 (see FIG. 2) through which a bar 58 passes so as to engage throw-in bearing 50. Shaft 36 passes through a bore 60 in bar 58, bore 60 being of sufficiently larger diameter than shaft 36 as to prevent binding of shaft 36 therein.

A threaded rod 62, extending outwardly from end plate 24, passes through a bore 64 in bar 58 adjacent one end thereof and a nut 66 is threaded upon the end of rod 62 as an adjustable stop holding bar 58 on rod 62.

Within casing 20 and intermediate clutch disc 44 and end plate 22 is a second clutch disc 68 extending sub stantially parallel to plate 44 and having a face facing that of member 46. Disc 68 is fixed to the end of a shaft 70, which is coaxial with shaft 36 and extends through a central opening 23 in end plate 22.

GEAR BOX Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a rectangular gear casing 72 mounted on end plate 22 of clutch casing 20.

The shaft 70 extends through the interior of casing 72 and is journalled to respectively opposite sides thereof by bearings 74 and 76. Intermediate the bearings 74 and 76 and within casing 72, shaft 70 has a worm gear 78 mounted thereon.

Output shaft 16 also extends through casing 72 and is journalled to two respectively opposite walls thereof for rotation about an axis perpendicular to, and spaced from, the axis of shaft 70. A gear 80, mounted on shaft 16, lies within casing 72'and engages with worm gear 78.

A substantially U-shaped handle member 82 extends outwardly from clutch assembly 12 and gear casing 14, with the base of the U extending substantially parallel to shaft 70. One arm of the handle member is fixed to end plate 22 of clutch casing 20 as, for example, by a bolt 84, and the other arm is mountedon a face of casing 72, as by bolts 86.

A second handle member 88 consists of a bar extending outwardly from gear casing 72 in a direction opposite to that of handle 82. Handle 88 is mounted on casing 72 by a bolt (not shown), for example, extending a ia y hsrsthr egbl Clutch trol L ve A clutch controllever 90 is mounted on casing 72 by a pivot 92 extending parallel to shaft 16. Handle 90 extends across the surface of casing 72 to which it is pivoted and has a handle portion 94 extending therebeyond so as to be slightly angularly spaced from handle member 88. The arrangement is such that an operator can grip handle 88 and handle portion 94 of lever 90 with the same hand to control the angular spacing between the handle 88 and lever 90.

An opening 95 in lever 90 has one end of shaft 16 passing therethrough and permits movement of lever 90 past shaft 16.

A rod 96 is pivotally connected to lever 90 intermediate pivot 92 and handle portion 94 by a pivot member 98 andextends from pivot member 98 towards clutch actuating bar 58 and through a hole 100 in the end thereof opposite to the end engaged with rod 62. The

end of rod 96 which passes through hole 100 is threaded and a nut 102 is threaded thereon to hold bar 58 on rod 86. v

Power Take-Off Referring most particularly to FIG. 4, there is shown a power take-off coupling arrangement particularly suitable for the auger of the present invention.

The power take-off coupling consists of a bolt 104 having a sleeve 106 secured to the head thereof as, for example, by welding and extending axially therefrom. The sleeve 106 is externally threaded and has two axially extending, diametrically opposed slots 108 therein. To engage with sleeve 106, a core 9 of cable is provided with a cylindrical end 110 having two diametrically opposed lugs 112. Cylindrical end 110 fits slidably within sleeve 106, with lugs 112 extending through respective ones of slots 108.'An internally threaded thimble 114, having inner cable 9 passing axially therethrough, threads onto sleeve 106 to prevent sleeve 106 from spreading.

A bracket 116 has an externally threaded'bushing 118 mounted thereon. Bushing 118 is provided with an axially extending through slot 120 and bracket 116 has a slot 122 communicating with slot 120.

A casing 11 of the flexible drive cable 10 has an inter nally threaded thimble 124 on'one end thereof adapted to be threadedly engaged with bushing 118 when cable 9 passesthrough the axial bore of bushing 118. Thimbles 114, 124 therefore mount the driven end of cable 10 to the power take-off.

Bolt 104 and bracket 116 are adapted to be mounted on a snow vehicle, with bolt 104 replacing a bolt, normally found on snow vehicle engines, which holds the vehicle clutch assembly on the engine crank shaft. Bracket 116 is to be mounted to the body of the vehicle, with bushing 118 coaxial with sleeve 106 and axially spaced therefrom.

With this arrangement, the cable is readily disengaged from the power take-off by unscrewing thimbles 114 and 124, withdrawing cable end from sleeve 106 and lifting cable core 9 through slots and 122 and therefore out of engagement with bushing 118 and bracket 116.

Auger Input Connection Referring most particularly to FIG. 3, there is shown a preferred arrangement for connecting cable 10 to the auger head in driving relationship therewith.

The previously described socket 40 is of non-circular cross-sectional shape, as is the end of cable core 9. Cable core 9 therefore engages within socket 40 in a non-rotatable fashion. Cable casing 11 is provided with an internally threaded thimble 126 which engages with externallythreaded bushing 34 and abuts a collar fixed to cable core 9 to hold cable 11 in driving engagement with clutch assembly 12.

Auger Connection Referring most particularly to FIG. 2, there is shown a sleeve 128 which fits slidably over output shaft 16 and is retained thereon by means of a spring clip 130 passing through aligned diametrically extending bores in sleeve 128 and shaft 16.

, An auger bit 132 fits slidably over sleeve 128 and is retained thereon by means of a spring clip 134 extending through diametrically aligned bores in auger 132 and sleeve 128.

As will be apparent, sleeve 128 can be of any desired length and it is envisaged to provide a plurality of telescoping sleeves of this nature to provide for any desired length of auger.

Operation The auger assembly, while totally dismantlable, is normally transported as a unit, i.e., with anger head 14, auger bit 18 and cable 10 pre-assembled.

To set up the auger for use, cable end 110 is slidably fitted within sleeve 106 and cable core 9 within bushing 118 and thimbles 114 and 124 threaded onto sleeve 106-and bushing 118 respectively.

Once these simple operations have been completed, the operator starts the engine of the snow vehicle, thus supplying power to input clutch plate 44. To supply power to output shaft 16 and therefore auger bit 132 the operator pulls handle portion 94 of clutch lever 90 towards handle member 88 to engage clutch plates 44 and 68. Thearrangement is such that the degree of slip between plates 44 and 68.can be controlled by the angular position of lever 90 with respect to handle member 88 and therefore the operator can control, during operation, the power and speed output of the auger.

With this embodiment, a simple means of adjusting the clutch actuating mechanism is the adjustment of the position of nuts 66 and 102 on rods 62 and 98 respectively.

It is envisaged to provide a kit including the flexible cable 10, the auger head including clutch assembly and gear assembly, one or more sleeves 128, an auger bit 132 and a tee handle (not shown) engageable with sleeve 128 in the same manner as is shaft 16 to provide for manual operation of the auger bit.

While the specific description of the preferred embodiment has been directed towards an ice auger, the invention should not be considered as limited thereto as the present device can also be used as an earth auger having a power source other than a snow vehicle.

I claim:

1. An auger head comprising:

a. power input shaft means drivingly connectable to a source of power;

b. power output shaft means drivingly connectable to an auger bit in driving relationship therewith;

c. means connecting the power output shaft means to the power input shaft meansin driven-drive relationship therewith and including a flat plate slip clutch adapted to provide a controllably variable amount of power transmission from said input shaft means to said output shaft means during continuous operation of said auger head;

d. resilient means biasing said clutch to a disengaged condition;

handle means mounted on said head; and

clutch control means movably mounted on said head selectively to control the degree of engagement of said clutch and having a portion adjacent said handle means for controlled movement thereof by an auger operator during continuous operation of said auger head.

2. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said source of power includes a flexible power transmitting cable.

3. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said power output shaft means is at right angles to movement of said clutch control means.

4. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 and further including an auger bit removably connected to said power output shaft means.

5. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means connecting the power output shaft means to the power. input shaft means includes mating gears between said slip clutch and said power output shaft means.

6. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said clutch control means include a lever pivotally mounted on said auger head for pivotal movement toward and away from said handle means.

7. An auger assembly including:

a. an auger head comprising:

i. power input shaft means;

-ii. power output shaft means;

iii. means connecting the power output shaft means to the power input shaft means in driven-drive relationship therewith and including a flat plate slip clutch adapted to provide a controllably variable amount of power transmission from said input shaft means to said output shaft means during continuous operation of said auger head;

iv. resilient means biasing said clutch to a disengaged condition;

v. handle means mounted on said head; and

vi. clutch control means movably mounted on said head, selectively to control the degree of engagement of said clutch and having a portion adjacent said handle means for controlled movement thereof by an auger operator during continuous operation of said auger head;

b. a flexible mechanical power transmitting cable;

c. means detachably connecting said cable to said power input shaft means in driving relationship therewith; and

d. an auger bit removably mounted on said power output shaft means in driven relationship therewith.

8. The assembly as claimed in claim 7 and further including:

a. a power source;

b. a power take-off connected to said power source;

and

0. means removably connecting said cable to said power take-off in driven relationship therewith.

9. The assembly as claimed in claim 8 wherein said power source is a motive power source for a vehicle.

10. The assembly as claimed in claim 7 and including a sleeve having a first end telescopically engageable with said power output shaft means and a second end opposite said first end telescopically engageable with said auger bit. 

1. An auger head comprising: a. power input shaft means drivingly connectable to a source of power; b. power output shaft means drivingly connectable to an auger bit in driving relationship therewith; c. means connecting the power output shaft means to the power input shaft means in driven-drive relationship therewith and including a flat plate slip clutch adapted to provide a controllably variable amount of power transmission from said input shaft means to said output shaft means during continuous operation of said auger head; d. resilient means biasing said clutch to a disengaged condition; e. handle means mounted on said head; and f. clutch control means movably mounted on said head selectively to control the degree of engagement of said clutch and having a portion adjacent said handle means for controlled movement thereof by an auger operator during continuous operation of said auger head.
 2. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said source of power includes a flexible power transmitting cable.
 3. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said power output shaft means is at right angles to movement of said clutch control means.
 4. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 and further including an auger bit removably connected to said power output shaft means.
 5. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means connecting the power output shaft means to the power input shaft means includes mating gears between said slip clutch and said power output shaft means.
 6. An auger head as claimed in claim 1 wherein said clutch control means include a lever pivotally mounted on said auger head for pivotal movement toward and away from said handle means.
 7. An auger assembly including: a. an auger head comprising: i. power input shaft means; ii. power output shaft means; iii. means connecting the power output shaft means to the power input shaft means in driven-drive relationship therewith and including a flat plate slip clutch adapted to provide a controllably variable amount of power transmission from said input shaft means to said output shaft means during continuous operation of said auger head; iv. resilient means biasing said clutch to a disengaged condition; v. handle means mounted on said head; and vi. clutch control means movably mounted on said head, selectively to control the degree of engagement of said clutch and having a portion adjacent said handle means for controlled movement thereof by an auger operator during continuous operation of said auger head; b. a flexible mechanical power transmitting cable; c. means detachably connecting said cable to said power input shaft means in driving relationship therewith; and d. an auger bit removably mounted on said power output shaft means in driven relationship therewith.
 8. The assembly as claimed in claim 7 and further including: a. a power source; b. a power take-off connected to said power source; and c. means removably connecting said cable to said power take-off in driven relationship therewith.
 9. The assembly as claimed in claim 8 wherein said power source is a motive power source for a vehicle.
 10. The assembly as claimed in claim 7 and including a sleeve having a first end telescopically engageable with said power output shaft means and a second end opposite said first end telescopically engageable with said auger bit. 